AKRON, Ohio – The Western Michigan men's basketball team was handed its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season on Tuesday night, as it fell at Akron, 77-66.    
 
Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro led Western Michigan (7-10, 4-1 MAC) in scoring for the evening with a season-high tying 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Javonte Brown and JaVaughn Hannah each tallied 10 points off of the WMU bench, with Brown pacing the Broncos on the glass with seven boards and tying his career high with three blocks.
 
Trailing 10-3 in the early going, WMU used an 8-0 run to take an 11-10 edge near the midway point of a low-scoring first half. The Zips (13-4, 5-0) moved back in front and built a five-point lead, 24-19, with under five minutes left until halftime. Western Michigan then closed out the half with a 10-3 stretch to take a 29-27 advantage into the locker room. The Broncos held UA without a field goal for the final four-and-a-half minutes of the opening period.
 
The Zips ended their six-and-a-half-minute field goal drought with a three-pointer which evened the contest at 30-30. The two teams traded baskets for the next several minutes until a 10-2 Akron surge gave the hosts a nine-point cushion, 52-43, at the halfway mark of the period.
 
WMU fought back, using an 11-2 run to tie the game up at 54-54 at the 6:55 mark. Tied again at 56-56, the Zips put together a 14-4 surge to go up by double-digits, 70-60, with a couple of minutes to play. Western Michigan could not get closer than eight for the remainder of the evening.
 
The Broncos shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) for the contest and connected on eight three-pointers, while Akron made 50.9 percent (29-of-57) of its attempts from the field.
 
Western Michigan is on the road again this Saturday as it visits Bowling Green. The Broncos and Falcons are set for a 2 pm tip on ESPN+.